Yujin Wakita

Application of intelligent monitoring for super long distance teleoperation

Time delay and limited communication capacity are the primary constraints in super-long distance telerobotic systems such as space telerobotic systems. Intelligent monitoring is efficient for this problem to provide a function which selects important scenes to help the operator through a monitoring camera. We constructed a telerobotic testbed which includes a connection through the international ISDN and typical space structure (space robot, truss structure land ORU). We conducted trans-Pacific teleoperation experiments using the testbed in ETL as the remote site and a telerobotic console at JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California) as a local site. Experimental results showed intelligent monitoring to be effective for the above problems.

Intelligent monitoring system for limited communication path: telerobotic task execution over Internet

Time delay and limited communication capacity are the primary constraints in super long distance telerobotic systems. Extension of the intelligent monitoring system is discussed from the viewpoint of the temporal domain. Details of an experimental system which includes real overseas connection through the Internet are shown. Results for a robotic pick-place task experiment using the system are reported.

Information Sharing via Projection Function for Coexistence of Robot and Human

Various kinds of service robots will be used in environment coexisting with humans. To realize the coexistence of a robot and a human, the robot must share task information with the person via an adequate interface. We propose a “projection function” as the interface for information sharing. We construct a projection system to prove the information sharing efficiency, and develop several modes of interaction between the robot and the human in the projection system.

Automatic Camera-work Control For Intelligent Monitoring Of Telerobotic Tasks

In t elerobot ic task execii t ion visual inforinat ion, such as TV monitors, is most important. However, in order that TV monitor supports human operator effectively, the monitor should display scenes relevant to task situation. In converitiorial systems, the human operator controls camera direction and viewing range (zooming) manually along with robot task control. It severely increases the burden of the operator. In this paper, we propose an intelligent control system of the monitoring camera for telerobotic task execution. The system supports the human operator by offering automated camera control synchronized with the process of the task execution. The robot tasks are commanded and executed using teleoperation-oriented robot-language. The proposed framework for the intelligent control system utilizes the hierarchical structiire of the language system. Prototype system with two cameras has been built up. Some results from experiments are also included.

Development of Assistive Robots Using International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health: Concept, Applications, and Issues

Many assistive robots for elderly and disabled people have been developed in the past few decades. However, very few of them became commercially available. The major cause of the problem is that the cost-benefit ratio and the risk-benefit ratio of them are not good or not known. The evaluation of them should be done in the light of the impacts of assistive technologies on users’ whole life, both in short-term and long-term. In this paper, we propose a framework of evaluation and design of assistive robots using ICF (International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health). The goal of the framework is the realization of the life design and the improvement of the quality of life using assistive technologies. We describe the concept of utilizing ICF in the development process of assistive robots, and demonstrate its utility by using some examples of practical application such as the analysis of daily living, the design of assistive robots and the evaluation of assistive robots. We also show the issues of using ICF for further development of the framework.

Realization of safety in a coexistent robotic system by information sharing

For service robots working in human coexisting environments, safety is an important issue. To realize the safety, physical and intelligent augmentations should be introduced to the coexistent robot. The key point of the intelligent augmentation is information sharing between the robot and the person. There are two aspects in the information sharing: 1) information about the place where the robot will perform the task and subtasks; and 2) information about the event what the robot will perform as the task and subtasks. The robot should inform the coexisting person of both of these aspects of the task information. We propose a projection function as a means of information sharing about the place. A voice message synthesizer is used for the information sharing about the event. Details of the construction of an experimental system and the experiments are described.

Task instruction by putting task information in work space

This paper presents a task instruction scheme for a service robot operating in a daily life environment. It is difficult for the robot to execute tasks automatically in the daily life environment, because it should handle various objects and the working environment is complex. In such an environment, the concept of shared autonomy by which the robot can share a task with a human is important. The task instruction that we propose is as follows: An operator clicks on a target object in a camera image and the system gets the position of the clicked point in the work space from the corresponding range image. Then, the operator selects the task model and attaches the task information to the position and the robot can perform its task safely and reliably using this task information. The features of the task instruction are as follows. An object model is composed of a list of task models which can be applied to the object category. The user recognizes the object type and its situation in the environment, and instructs a robot to execute a task by selecting a task model according to the object type and situation.

Development of evaluation indexes for assistive robots based on ICF

With the aging population trends in developed countries, there is an increased expectation of the application of assistive robots. A variety of robots have been developed to address this challenge. Although there are many technical problems to be solved, the lack of objective evaluation indexes for evaluating the benefit to the users is one of the important problems to be addressed before the commercialization of the assistive robots can be realized. The ICF (International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health) is a classification of the health components of functioning and disability, and is being utilized in medical, healthcare, and welfare fields. The ICF has a basic framework to evaluate healthcare and welfare equipment, including robots, and it will be the basis of the evaluation indexes for assistive robots. In this paper, we present the development of evaluation indexes, and provide the results of preliminary experiments which were conducted using iARM and RAPUDA robots performing a certain lifting task. The experiments illustrate the issues involved in the development of ICF-based indexes for assitive robots.

Single-Switch User Interface for Robot Arm to Help Disabled People Using RT-Middleware

We are developing a manipulator system in order to support disabled people with less muscle strength such as muscular dystrophy patients. Such a manipulator should have an easy user interface for the users to control it. But the supporting manipulator for disabled people cannot make large industry, so we should offer inexpensive manufacturing way. These type products are called “orphan products.” We report on the construction of the user interface system using RT-Middleware which is an open software platform for robot systems. Therefore other user interface components or robot components which are adapted to other symptoms can be replaced with the user interface without any change of the contents. A single switch and scanning menu panel are introduced as the input device for the manual control of the robot arm. The scanning menu panel is designed to perform various actions of the robot arm with the single switch. A manipulator simulation system was constructed to evaluate the input performance. Two muscular dystrophy patients tried our user interface to control the robot simulator and made comments. According to the comments by them, we made several improvements on the user interface. This improvements examples prepare inexpensive manufacturing way for orphan products.

Robot teaching using projection function

We have proposed a projection function as a method of sharing information between a person and a coexistent robot. The projection function means that an image of the robots next motion is projected in the task environment to notify the human of what it is going to do and thereby to enable cooperation between the person and the robot. We apply the projection function to teaching the robot the task coordinates. The simulated image on the task floor moves along with the operators command. The operator can stay apart from the moving robot with the new teaching method. This method requires only the simulation model of the robot itself, while other methods based on virtual reality require a whole model of the task environment.